Tom,
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR POSTING THAT PRESS RELEASE! :-)
It is great that we now have even more confirmation of the following:
1) The telomerase gene actually makes cells "immortal", to the point
they can divide INDEFINANTLY, and not only a few extra divisions.
2) That in-vitro the telomerase gene does not cause cells to become
cancerous.
3) That in-vivo (so far at least) the telomerase gene does not cause
cells to be come cancerous.
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It is great to finally have confirmation of the above three things!
Also, the following was my FAVORITE paragraph in the press release:
"The use of `telomerized' cells with an extended lifespan should
enable the cells to survive longer in the body. Finally, for
therapeutic applications, Geron will seek to use regulated telomerase
expression to postpone or reverse senescence and age-related
pathologies such as macular degeneration, skin atrophy, and
atherosclerosis."
It sounds to me, because of the above, that they are planning to use
their telomerase gene to immortalize human tissues in-vivo! Lets
really cross our fingers and hope that they are planning to find a way
to use some kind of viral vector to insert the telomerase gene into
the cells of the human body.
I am wondering something though, they state in their press release
that they expressed telomerase in-vivo, so does any body know what
organism they immortalized, what were the results, did anything
therapeutic occur?
Thanks again for posting this press release!
Take care and have a great day.
Best Regards,
William